Unbroken
by archerygirl13
Summary: A broken arrow. A broken smile. Two wrongs didn't make a right. But maybe, she hoped, just maybe two broken people could unbreak each other.
1. Chapter 1

Continuity: Before and after _Infiltrator_.

* * *

Jade had never cared much for men.

As a child, she had watched a man abandon his crippled wife to save his own skin. She had watched that same man as he vehemently refused to visit his wife in jail, because the police would recognize him by association. And worst of all, she had watched the man emotionally abuse his two young daughters. She had been one of those daughters.

Apart from her father, all the other men she knew were either coldblooded assassins or members of the high and mighty Justice League. The men she didn't know either leered at her or were frightened by her; some were even murdered by her.

That was why, until her late teens, her opinion of men was on par with her opinion of mold- disgusting and uninteresting, and in need of eradication.

Then she met _him_.

* * *

To say that Jade and Roy had _met_ was a bit misleading. Rather, Jade had observed Sportsmaster speaking to Speedy, Green Arrow's sidekick. Out of all the heroes, she disliked Green Arrow and Speedy the least- it must have had something to do with her fondness of arrows, which she associated with her kid sister. It also helped that neither had superpowers; they were just really good with their weapons. Like her.

At the time, she had assumed that Sportsmaster was threatening Speedy to not let Artemis anywhere near Green Arrow- Jade and Sportsmaster knew that Artemis was becoming more and more hesitant to join the Shadows, and was instead becoming more and more interested in what Green Arrow was doing. Or maybe Artemis was interested in what _Speedy_ was doing. After all, he had a spitfire personality just like Artemis did. And he looked like... Jade didn't care what he looked like. She didn't.

It wasn't until almost three years later that she found out exactly what Speedy's situation was- that he wasn't even Roy Harper at all, but a clone, and that he had been programmed to infiltrate the Justice League and act as an unwilling spy. Unfortunately, Sportsmaster was in charge of controlling him. She felt sorry for the boy- she knew what it was like to be controlled by Sportsmaster. She still hated every memory she had of that man.

Unsurprisingly, Roy had no idea what was happening to him. He firmly and earnestly believed he was a good guy. And he was. Like Artemis. In fact, Jade couldn't help but draw parallels between the two archers. Both were good, believed they were good, _wanted_ to be good. But they were programmed otherwise- one was literally programmed to be a mole, and the other was programmed in the way that children grow up believing what their parents believe; in Artemis' case, she was raised to believe that kill-or-be-killed was the way of life.

But there was one significant difference: Artemis could think for herself. From the way she kept stalking Green Arrow, it was becoming apparent that she had found a new role model, that she had realized that she wasn't assassin material.

Roy could not think for himself. He didn't have the chance to determine whether or not he was spy material because he didn't know he was a spy. It was unfair. She hated Sportsmaster even more for taking away yet another person's freedom of choice.

If Artemis could choose her future, Roy should be able to as well. Why she felt that Roy should have the choice of being good, she didn't know.

* * *

"I can't, mom," Jade said matter-of-factly. "It's not possible. I'm in too deep."

Having been released from jail, Paula had wasted no time trying to set her eldest daughter straight. "What do you mean you can't? Jade, I was just like you when I was your age. Being a Shadow was my life, my greatest honor. But look what that did to me." She gestured at her wheelchair. "I implore you, Jade, please leave the Shadows."

"It's not that simple. Ra's al Ghul can program us to do his bidding."

"What?"

"Something to do with hypnosis."

"Don't toy with me, Jade. Explain what you mean!"

"Fine. al Ghul uses hypnotic failsafes to subdue his agents and program us. This included you, too. He has key words that send us into a trance, and he tells us what to do and we do it."

Paula was aghast. "Hypnosis? You do not seem to be under the hypnosis anymore, though. How else would you know of this?"

"I found out while investigating something about mind-control. But my point is that I can't leave. If I do, al Ghul will probably find me and program me to kill myself. The only reason you're still alive is because of your condition- you're not exactly fighting anyone anymore, so he doesn't care whether you live or die."

"Oh, Jade, you really are in too deep," Paula sobbed.

Cheshire smiled brokenly. "Don't cry, mom. I'll be okay," she said with much more confidence than she felt.

* * *

Having 'lost' one daughter, it appeared that Paula had given her all into saving the other one.

Sportsmaster was the angriest Jade had ever seen him when he came to her and roared, "Artemis became Green Arrow's sidekick! My daughter- _my daughter_ is a goddamned _hero_!"

Jade couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy at the way he said 'my daughter' he very rarely used the term with her, and even when he did, it was in the most formal of fashions. Whenever he said "Jade is my daughter," (and he always said it with an air of displeasure) there was about as much emotion and affection in the word 'daughter' as there was in the word 'offspring.'

There was also a twinge of something else. As Green Arrow's new sidekick, Artemis would obviously be working alongside Green Arrow's old sidekick. They would become friends. Possibly more.

Jade told herself that the churning in her stomach was because she hated the idea of her kid sister dating a hero.

However, sometimes Jade wondered if she had made the wrong decision. Instead of trying to become a better Shadow than Sportsmaster, she should have become a hero, too. That would have spited her father more.

But honestly, being all righteous made her nauseous.

Maybe that was why she didn't hate Speedy. He was a good guy with a bad side, although he didn't know he had a bad side. He was in-between, a shade of gray. Like Artemis. Like... herself?

* * *

_Red Arrow_ was so much better than _Speedy_. Jade thought Kid Flash should have been called Speedy, not an archer. And the name Red Arrow just rolled off the tongue.

Red Arrow was no longer a sidekick, either. Good. He was in her league now. And he had declared himself 'his own man.' Fabulous. She understood people who thought like that. She had always lived under the principle of 'every girl for herself.'

So why was she looking out for Roy?

That was the question she was asking herself when she approached him at the grocery store, where they could both pretend to be civilians. If he didn't recognize her, he wouldn't try to attack her before she had a chance to talk.

She found him stocking up on protein shakes. Although she would never admit it, she was a bit nervous. When Jade was nervous, she feigned overconfidence. It helped her believe that she actually _was_ confident.

"Mmm... I see all that protein is being put to good use," she said in a low voice, slowly raking her eyes over his muscular frame.

Roy appeared annoyed, rather than flattered. He ignored her and piled a few more shakes (all plain vanilla, Jade noted) into his basket.

"Don't be so vanilla. Why not try strawberry? Matches your hair." She reached up to touch it. "I like red hair."

Roy, now appearing supremely annoyed, grabbed her wrist before she could touch his hair. "If you like red hair, there's another redhead here you might be interested in, who may also be interested in you, _unlike me_. He's the guy gutting fish over in the seafood department."

He released her wrist and began to walk away.

"Hey, _Red_. Going so soon? I thought we could have a date."

Roy glared at her, somewhat cautiously. Jade knew he was wondering if she had called him 'Red' because of his hair, or because she knew who he actually was.

"I don't do dates," was all he said.

"You don't do spy work, either, do you?"

Roy narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but said nothing. Jade pressed on, "Or at least, you _think_ you don't do spy work." She walked closer to him and whispered, "There's a mole in your little team of sidekicks."

Roy's eyes widened. "What? How do you- who are you?"

"Think, Red. Who is the mole? Who are you least likely to suspect?" She placed her hand over his heart. "It's _you_, Roy Harper. You are the mole. Do you remember, now?"

Roy dropped his basket, a look of horror on his face. Then he froze, looked dazed for a moment, and shook his head, as if clearing it of a crazy dream. When he looked at her again, the look of horror was gone.

"Excuse me," he said. "Sorry for bumping into you." He picked up his basket and headed for the checkstand.

"Wait. Aren't you afraid that I might turn you in? Let them know that your little blame game is just a distraction? How will your friends react to that?"

"Excuse me?" Roy looked genuinely confused. "I think you have the wrong person."

Jade rolled her eyes and sighed. "So amateur. Pretending like this never happened doesn't change a thing. I know more about you than you do, Red Arrow."

Roy scowled. "Who are you? How do you know me? I've never seen you before. And what do you mean, you'll turn me in? For what?"

"So many questions. How about we discuss this over dinner? You're buying, of course."

Roy scoffed. "Just another crazy fangirl. Please, get a life."

Something wasn't right, Jade thought. It didn't seem like he was pretending. Then it suddenly occurred to her that the programming was probably erasing the truth from his memory. She had to try again to make sure.

"_You're_ the one who needs to 'get a life.' You can't even make your own decisions, can you, Red? That's why you have Sportsmaster telling you your every move."

"Sportsmaster? What are you talking about? I haven't seen Sportsmaster since-"

"Since a few days ago, when he advised you to bring your sidekick friends to our little science fair, am I right? True, not everything went according to plan- the Fog was deactivated far too quickly, but-"

"The Fog? _Cheshire!_ You're Cheshire!" _  
_

Quick as a flash, Jade pinned Roy against a shelf of vitamin supplements, knocking several over. "I'm not here to fight. This is a grocery store, remember? There are security cameras everywhere. I'm just here to tell you the truth: that you were cloned to be a mole, and everything you do is a part of _their_ plan."

The same look of horror washed over his face again as he remembered. "Broken Arrow. I'm the mole."

"Yes, Red. You are."

"Why are you telling me this? I thought you were one of _them_."

"Because..."

And just like that, he forgot again. "Excuse me? Is there a reason why you're pushing me into the vitamins?"

Jade was exasperated, but knew there wasn't much she could do against the programming. "You took the last of the vanilla shakes, you greedy hog," she snapped. Childish? Yes. But she wasn't in the mood to taunt him anymore; at least, not now.

Roy looked as if that had been the last thing he had expected to hear. "Erm, here," he said, handing her his entire basket. "I guess I'll try a different flavor, then."

"Good," said Jade. "You should try strawberry. It matches your hair."

* * *

The vanilla shake was not sweet enough and tasted artificial. _Like Red Arrow_, Jade thought. But she finished the bottle anyway as she studied the webpage explaining mind control. Surely there had to be a way to override his programming, and a way for her to break free of al Ghul's hypnosis?

The broken arrow and the girl with the broken smile could both be fixed, could they not?

But until she found an answer, she would have to look out for the man who couldn't look out for himself. Where was this protectiveness coming from? The last time she had felt like this was when Lawrence had decided Artemis was old enough to begin training. She had been concerned about Artemis because she loved her little sister. She was concerned about Roy because...?

Jade spent the rest of that night in a pub full of leering, drunken strangers, reminding herself of all the reasons why she hated men.


	2. Chapter 2

Continuity: Between _Infiltrator _and _Targets_ (one month).

* * *

Jade had never liked cheating, much. It had absolutely nothing to do with a moral code. It was just that cheating was only a temporary solution, and besides, she was too smart to need to cheat, and too proud to want to cheat.

But when she figured out how to cheat Roy's memory loss, she was elated. She told herself that she was elated because she proved how smart she was, _not_ because Roy didn't consider her the enemy during the times when he remembered.

_Broken Arrow_ had a side effect: when Sportsmaster said it, Roy would shut down; when Jade said it, though, it instantly returned all of his memories, including their previous encounters. She discovered this when she had tried to reprogram him herself, only to find Roy shaking her by the shoulders, demanding to know exactly _why_ she was helping him.

"I hate Sportsmaster," she said honestly, although she knew it wasn't the complete reason. "I want him to fail at his mission. And for him to fail, his broken arrow needs to be... unbroken."

"You can't unbreak me, Cheshire," Roy sighed, dropping his head into his hands.

Jade had never seen him look so dejected- she hadn't thought that the arrogant hotshot was even_ capable_ of looking dejected. "If unbreaking you means breaking Sportsmaster, I will make sure that I succeed," she assured him.

"I don't think so. I'm a clone. An artificial being programmed to serve an evil purpose. And when I've served that damn purpose- betraying all of my friends and destroying everything that matters to me- Sportsmaster and his employers will probably kill me. And even if they don't, who says I won't kill myself? I already hate myself. Would it be possible to hate myself more? My life isn't my own. My identity isn't my own. Where is Roy Harper? I need to right this wrong."

"Well, there you go," said Jade. "After you serve your first purpose, you can create a second purpose for yourself: undoing everything you did wrong."

Roy laughed mirthlessly. "Yeah. That sounds great. I'll kill all my friends, then resurrect them. Sounds easy."

"Fine. Maybe that isn't such a great purpose, then. Maybe your new purpose could be..." she paused hesitantly.

"What? To offer myself as a lab rat to a psychologist? To help gain new knowledge on how clones think and how hypnosis works?"

"No. Maybe... Maybe you can unbreak me, too," she said in a very quiet voice.

Roy's expression softened slightly, but he still looked doubtful. "But you like what you do, don't you? You enjoy the hunt and the cat-and-mouse toying with your victims. You're always smiling your cat grin- isn't that why they call you Cheshire? You're happy and always smiling. How could you possibly be broken?"

"When something repeats without stopping, you call it a broken record. When someone smiles without stopping, what do you call that?"

"Cheshire, what do you mean?"

But like the Cheshire cat, Jade had disappeared.

* * *

For the next few weeks, that was how they met. Jade would approach him and call out, "Broken Arrow," and Roy would remember.

"So you say you're under al Ghul's hypnosis, but you _know_ that you are. I forget everything unless I'm with you. What gives?"

"Not sure. Perhaps it was an extra precaution in case your Martian friends decided to peek into your mind- not that they'd find anything interesting in there."

Roy glared, but it was half-hearted. "I have another question."

"So many questions. How about we discuss this over dinner?" Jade smiled coyly. Her smiles felt somewhat less broken these days.

"You said you were helping me because you wanted to foil Sportsmaster. But I think it's been obvious for a while now that you can't reprogram me, I can't remember anything, and Sportsmaster is still in control. So why do you keep coming back?"

"I like our little dates. You're the perfect in-between," she explained. "You're just villainous enough to suit my tastes, but just heroic enough to spite my father. He would have forbidden our romance, you see. I like pursuing forbidden things."

"Romance," Roy scoffed. "What a joke. How do you know I'm even capable of feeling any emotions? I'm a clone with a brain that's been hijacked. I'm not entirely human."

"You are _entirely_ human. If you weren't, you wouldn't hurt so much from the thought of not being human."

"Who says I'm hurting?"

"I know what it looks like on the outside when you hurt on the inside and pretend otherwise."

Roy was quiet for a moment, then he finally asked, "Who are you, Cheshire? I mean, I know you're Jade Nguyen, ruthless assassin. But that's not what I mean. Who are you, really?"

"An old cat lady. An old cat lady who has another contract to fulfill. Gotta go. See you, lover boy." She swiftly kissed him on the cheek before disappearing once more.

* * *

She thought it was kind of sad that the closest thing she had to a friend was someone who spent most of his time firmly believing that she was the enemy.

She thought it was also the reason why he was the closest thing she had to a friend- she didn't think she wanted a full-time friend. She was still an independent spirit. She also took some comfort in knowing that if she made a mistake and spoke too much, he couldn't possibly tell anyone else.

It also didn't hurt that she was in complete control of the relationship, choosing when and where to meet. The problem was that she felt she was beginning to lose control of _herself. _She kept thinking about Roy. Every time she received a new contract, she didn't bother toying with her victims anymore. They were eliminated quickly, and she was back with Roy, sometimes bickering, sometimes sparring (her combat skills were far superior to his, but it still made for good entertainment), and sometimes just sitting on Roy's couch, talking about nothing at all.

It was almost like being a normal teenage girl, the girl that she might have been if her parents had been different people. There was a good-looking boy and plenty of flirting (although it was still only on her part), some arguing, a major identity crisis, and lots of angst. Typical teenage stuff. But what she liked most of all was that carefree feeling- like nothing else mattered while she had her Roy to talk with.

_Her_ Roy? When had this happened? She was definitely in over her head.

"I have to go," she said without preamble, and vanished out the window.

As she left, she thought she heard Roy say, "What, no goodbye kiss today?" Or maybe she had imagined it.

* * *

When most people discussed their agendas at breakfast, it was something along the lines of go to work, pick up the kids, come home, make dinner, watch TV, and sleep.

Jade and Roy weren't most people.

"I'll shoot Luthor with an RPG, you'll stop me, we'll fight, I'll get arrested, one of my colleagues will bust me out, you'll follow, we'll fight some more, I'll bring in the bomb, we'll fight again, and when everything's done, Luthor will have saved the day." It sounded so simple when she said it like that.

"This is the most ridiculous plan I've ever heard of!" Roy fumed, slamming his hand into the table. "First of all, _Lex Luthor _playing the good guy is just... ridiculous! And let me get this straight, an RPG, a bomb, and an army of assassins? And you're going to allow yourself to be arrested on international television all for show? I could end up killing you _all__ f__or show_."

"You? Kill me? Not possible. You're good, Red Arrow, but I'm better. Besides, your programming ensures that you can't kill any of the Shadows."

"There are things called accidents. If something happens to you..."

Was Roy concerned about her?

"... I'll never get my memories back."

Of course he wasn't. She had been foolish for hoping. But she still allowed herself to be concerned for her little sister. "When you bring your sidekick friends, try not to involve Ar... chery girl. I fought her before, and I don't think she has the skills to survive this fight. Like you said, there are things called accidents, and bombs are involved."

"I wasn't planning on involving her. Maybe just Aqualad? I work well with him. He's level-headed."

"Unlike you, hothead. But maybe that's why you work well together. He's cool where you're hot- _really hot_."

Roy groaned. "Not now, Cheshire. How can you be so nonchalant about this? Here we are, eating breakfast together, and by dinnertime, we'll be at each other's throats."

"We sound like a married couple."

"A married couple from a bad soap opera. I'm leading a triple-life: hero, mole, and... whatever this is I become when I'm with you. And oh yeah, I have amnesia. All bad soap operas need at least one character with amnesia."

Jade noticed that Roy hadn't eaten a single bite of his breakfast. His shredded wheat cereal had turned to mush. "You have a long day ahead of you, Red. Eat."

"I'm not hungry. There are just too many things going on! I haven't come to terms with what I am, I'm about to participate in an international incident, and it's only a matter of time before I execute my programming in its entirety. I can't deal with this!"

"You can deal with anything. Now, how about some jam to cheer you up?" She smeared a spoonful of strawberry jam on Roy's nose.

Roy stared at her, half agitated and half confused. "What did you do that for?"

"Well, it calmed down the dormouse in _Alice in Wonderland_."

Funnily enough, the jam seemed to have worked. Roy sighed and wiped the jam off his nose, which stayed a bit red. Jade found it endearing and smiled without even noticing.

"What if I... malfunction?" Roy asked gloomily. "What if there's a 'bug in the code' and I don't behave as expected? I could die. You could die. Everyone at the Peace Summit could die."

"You won't malfunction."

"Where do you get your confidence from? Cadmus is very advanced science, but it's not perfect: for example, Superboy isn't Superman. He was supposed to be, though."

"Never mind all this programming, then. Forget Red Arrow and Speedy and Roy Harper. They're just names. You are _you_, and I know that you're good enough to pull through."

When Roy looked at her again, his eyes were full of turmoil, trepidation, and... Jade berated herself silently. She was imagining things again, always with her head in Wonderland. She abruptly changed the subject. "You wash the dishes, I'll dry. And then it's off to work with you, honey. You'll do great on your 'presentation' today. Oh, and don't forget to take our sweet little Aqualad to swim practice. What would you like for dinner when you come home? I thought 'amnesia salad' would be a nice side dish."

Roy scowled at her, then suddenly burst into laughter. For that moment, the broken arrow didn't look that broken at all. She liked it. She liked _him_. There was no more denying it.


	3. Chapter 3

Continuity: Between _Targets_ and_ Insecurity_ (three months).

* * *

Jade usually slept in the mornings because she worked at night. But these days, she found herself wide awake and eating breakfast at Roy's place. It was certainly different- she had been used to living and working in the shadows, under the cloak of darkness and hiding behind her mask. But breakfast at Roy's meant sunlight streaming in through the kitchen window, which had a beautiful view of Star City. The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the room. She thought she could get used to this.

"This is why I don't read the news anymore," Jade said, glancing at the newspaper on the kitchen table. The headlines read,_ Peace Summit a success due to Luthor!_ Below that was another article: _Luthor's would-be assassin escapes!_ "All a bunch of lies and misinformation."

Roy was standing in front of the stove, making pancakes. Jade couldn't help but think it was amusing that Roy was a better cook than she was. He carefully ladled the batter into perfect circles and flipped them with mechanical precision. It was precious, and the sight of the gruff boy making delicately fluffy pancakes was more than enough to cheer her up from last night's encounter with Sportsmaster.

"You know, last night was my first date with the 'other' you. It was a splash. Sparks flew. And Taipei was nice, too."

Roy spoke for the first time that morning. "The 'other' me watched you fall when that bomb went off, and was disappointed when you got up again." He sounded very unhappy about that, which improved Jade's mood even more.

"Oh? And what about_ this_ you? How do you feel about that?"

"Eat your pancakes while they're warm."

Jade was happy to do just that. They ate in silence- comfortable and content silence for Jade, and brooding silence for Roy. She smirked wickedly when they reached for the syrup bottle at the same time and their hands touched.

"Delicious," she said after her last bite. "But the cook who made them is even more delicious."

"What's _not_ delicious is the apple of discord I've thrown at the Team. It was inscribed with 'To the mole.' I'm going to have to sit here and watch myself rip my own team apart from the inside."

"_Your_ team? So they're in your league, now?"

"They have my respect," he admitted. "But I don't deserve theirs. After all, I'll be the end of them... If I don't end myself first."

"Don't talk like that," Jade said sharply. "Look, Arrow, I don't want to give you false hope, but I don't think they have anything planned for us for the next few months. Of course, I'm only told what I need to know, but I have other sources of information as well. There's nothing on the agenda for you and me, so we have some time to figure out how to defeat the mind-control, if that's possible."

"So there is hope?"

"Maybe. But like I said, I don't want to give you false hope. Remember that hope was also included in Pandora's Box. It's not entirely a good thing- it can be quite the double agent, in fact. I like to imagine that hope has red hair and blue eyes."

"Shut up and drink your coffee, Cheshire."

Jade was happy to do just that.

* * *

It took a little convincing because Jade didn't want the assistance of the 'little sidekicks,' but eventually they agreed that their first attempt at overcoming the mind-control would be to seek Miss Martian's help.

Unfortunately, things hadn't really worked out. Upon seeing Cheshire and Red Arrow together, M'gann had immediately assumed they were engaged in hostile combat. She telepathically shut down Jade, which caused Roy to forget why he and Jade had approached Miss Martian in the first place. It did, however, increase his suspicion of the well-meaning Martian.

"I don't remember the sequence of events that led Cheshire, you, and me to being here right now. What have you done to my memories? You're working with her, aren't you?" he accused.

"No! Red Arrow, no! I saw her trying to attack you-"

"But what I saw was you knocking Cheshire out, and about to do the same to me, too!"

"No, Red Arrow, please believe me- I could show you!"

"No! You stay out of my head! And remember that I'm not the only one who suspects you."

* * *

"Well, that went well," Roy told Jade. "Nearly made her cry. Maybe this time we could warn her first? Send her a message? Or we could turn ourselves in to the Justice League- tell them the truth, have the Martian Manhunter verify that we're being honest, and then the entire League could help us."

"No, Red. I don't want their help. I think you're forgetting that I'm helping you only because I want to foil Sportsmaster, _not_ because I've decided to change paths. I still want to see the Justice League fall. They think they are high and mighty and the solution to everyone's problems, but they're not."

"Okay, I agree that they aren't the solution to everything. But they always do the right thing."

"What is the 'right' thing? From whose point of view is it right? For example, they once crippled a woman just because she was a villain- they didn't even consider how crippling that woman might affect her children. Was that really the right thing to do? And speaking of children, so many children admire them and want to be like them, but they don't give a damn about those children, not even when they're abused. I know a girl who wrote letters to the Justice League, hoping that they would come save her from her abusive father. They never did. They didn't care." Jade bit her tongue. She had said too much.

"Cheshire? That girl, was that-"

"My point is, I don't want their help. I doubt they'll help us anyway, they have bigger things to worry about."

She could see that Roy wanted to argue, but he didn't.

* * *

For the next few months, all of their spare time went into researching mind-control.

Despite the seriousness of their research, Jade found herself enjoying the times she spent with Roy. In fact, Roy spent more time as_ her_ Roy instead of the 'other' Roy.

Sometimes, their research took them abroad. Sometimes, she had to coerce certain people to give up information. All of that was fun, but her favorite moments were spent in the library of the Royal University.

She had wanted to go to college- still did, in fact. The only good thing Sportsmaster had ever done was to instill a love of foreign languages in her. She was fluent in four and proficient in five, but would have liked to learn more at a university. In a different life, she could have been translating for diplomats instead of assassinating them.

She enjoyed the smell of books and the sound of shuffling pages. As a child, the library had been her Wonderland- her escape from the harsh realities of an unhappy home; Sportsmaster had never bothered her there. She gazed somewhat wistfully at the shelves of textbooks and tomes that she would never have the time to read, and glared somewhat enviously at the students whose biggest concern in life was passing their classes.

"Cheshire?" Roy whispered. "What are you thinking about?"

"How the pen is mightier than the sai," she whispered back.

Roy shook his head. "You say the strangest things sometimes. Did you find any useful information?"

"Not yet. You?"

"None." Roy rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I was never a bad student, but I didn't particularly like being one, either. I feel like I'm in high school again, with a research paper on a topic I know nothing about."

"I actually spent a lot of time in the library when I was a student," Jade said.

"Your school had books on _101 Ways to Kill Your Enemies_?"

"Not exactly. It was the best place to go when I wanted to be left alone. Which was all the time."

"For someone who likes to be left alone, you spend an awful lot of time with me."

"I _like_ you, Red. It's time you noticed already. You're so clueless that sometimes I want to stab you with Cupid's arrow to make you like me back."

"Who says I don't?"

For once, Jade was at a loss for words.

* * *

They fought...

They fought over silly things, like who got to eat the last slice of pizza. They fought when Jade's disastrous attempt to make breakfast had nearly destroyed Roy's kitchen. They fought when Jade replaced Roy's shampoo with one that smelled like strawberries. It was easy to pretend that they were normal people.

But of course, they weren't.

They fought when Jade had appeared with scratch marks on her face made by her latest victim. "You know I can't stop what I do, just like you can't stop being the mole!"

They fought when Jade insulted the Justice League a little too much. "None of the Justice League would ever hurt someone for sport! And that's what makes them different from people like you."

They fought when Jade discovered a half-empty bottle of sleeping pills in Roy's room. "No narcotics, ever! _Ever!_ 'The other me couldn't sleep' is _not_ an excuse! I know you still hate yourself, that you think things will be better if you just... _leave_... And that makes me worry so, so much..."

.

... and they made up.

They split the last slice of pizza. They cleaned the kitchen together. Roy grudgingly agreed to use the strawberry shampoo once a week.

Roy cleaned her wounds, and they researched even harder to break the mind-control.

Jade admitted that she didn't find killing all that much fun anymore. Roy confessed that some of the League had slightly questionable moral standards, too.

Roy promised not to use sleeping pills anymore and awkwardly hugged her for the first time. "I'm sorry for making you worry. It means a lot that you worry about me."

Jade hugged him back. She wanted them to stay that way forever. But they didn't have forever.

* * *

They talked.

They talked mostly about serious things, like their research, their agenda, and the fate of the world.

.

They also talked about nothing at all:

"If you were a crayon, what color would you be?" Jade asked.

"Gee, I wonder. Maybe my alias, my costume, and my hair would have something to do with it?"

"I would be blue #003366," Jade declared. "I could look at that color all day."

She later caught him looking at an online hex color chart while studying his own eyes in the mirror.

.

And they talked about things they normally didn't talk about:

"It's kind of funny, the way I have so many 'Arrow' names. After my parents died in a forest fire, I was raised by a Navajo medicine chief named Brave Bow, who called me Lost Arrow."

"Well, Lost Arrow, you aren't so lost anymore. I found you."

"But I haven't found myself."

"I once lost myself, too. Then I found myself, or so I thought. Now, I'm not so sure whether I am lost or found, but it doesn't matter."

"Why not?"

"I found someone else to find me, instead."


	4. Chapter 4

Continuity: Before and after _Insecurity_.

* * *

She was both touched by and frightened by the little things he did: the way he remembered that her preferred coffee was with one and a half sugars, the way he would cover her with his jacket when she fell asleep at the library, and the way that he had started to call her 'Jade' one day and failed to notice that he was doing so.

It was that last thing that affected her the most. He had finally accepted her as a _real __person_, not just as the villain who happened to have the side effect of enabling him to access his suppressed memories. She was thrilled to be 'just Jade' to someone who wasn't family, but the implications of that scared her, too. In her line of work, it was best to be independent. Having strings attached would just get you all tangled up. It was best to not have emotions.

So, she was frightened by the little things she found herself doing: the way she kept buying the plain bagels instead of her preferred sesame ones because she had seen him pick the seeds off, the way she sat next to him and put her head on his shoulder because she _wanted_ to, not because she was teasing him.

It was the little things that told her that she didn't _like_ Roy anymore, she...

"Don't move, Cheshire."

She hadn't even heard him come in. What great assassin's senses she had. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Relax, Broken Arrow, it's just me."

The key phrase never failed. Roy put down the bow and arrow he had been aiming at Jade. "This is so frustrating. I spend so much time now as _this_ me that the 'other' me is very disoriented. He doesn't understand how time keeps flying by days at a time." He rubbed his temples. "Any news?"

"Yes, unfortunately. Sportsmaster," she spat the name, "and I have a delivery to make. You and the sidekicks will interfere."

"Great," Roy said with the same dejected tone he always adopted when he knew he was going to be foiling his friends.

"Tomorrow, we will convene at New Orleans. We _must_ have some gumbo after the mission is over."

"You always assume we'll both survive every mission."

"No. Death is always a possibility for people like us. But if I never made plans for the future, I would never get anywhere, would I? Better to leave behind unfulfilled plans than to have no plans to fulfill. Speaking of plans, we also have to visit _The Walrus and the Carpenter_- they have the best oysters. And beignets!" Jade exclaimed. "Have you had them before? They are simply divine with chicory coffee."

Roy gave her a lopsided grin. "I have an appointment with Green Arrow. He'll probably tell me the same thing you just told me about New Orleans. I doubt I'll see you again until we're actually there." He paused for a moment, then leaned in and pecked her on the cheek. He had never done that before.

Jade gasped. "What was that for?"

"What?" He looked slightly defensive, and there was a pink tinge to his cheeks. "Just a goodbye kiss, is all. Don't think too much into it. A kiss is only a kiss."

A kiss _was_ only a kiss- except for when it wasn't. That tiny peck on the cheek, for her, was monumental. It was another reason to continue with the painstaking research and to continue believing that someday, they could really be unbroken.

* * *

She saw the subtle shimmer of the Martian bio-ship. She still didn't want the Martian girl's help, but the thought was tempting, nonetheless. As she crept closer to the bio-ship, she saw a slim green figure with a mane of blonde hair jump out of the hatch. Artemis.

She hadn't thought Artemis would be there. Artemis hadn't despised Sportsmaster with quite the fervor she had had, so Jade had assumed Artemis would not have wanted to participate in this mission. But Jade had been wrong, and now she was faced with three-quarters of a family reunion.

The best way to keep her kid sister safe was for her to fight Artemis herself. According to Roy, Sportsmaster had made it very clear that Artemis was to be the number one suspect. It was obvious he wanted his 'baby girl' to be kicked off the team of heroes. So it was best for Artemis to stay away from Sportsmaster while her teammates were around, lest he reveal too much about the family history.

"Hey sis," she called.

As they fought, she was pleased to see that Artemis had vastly improved. The younger girl was giving her a run for her money. She didn't have to hold back in the slightest- Artemis was matching her equally. She was genuinely enjoying the fight when she suddenly found herself pinned to a tree. So there was the 'other' Roy. He was fun, too. Taunting him was even more fun than taunting _her_ Roy.

"Why Arrow," she drawled. "If you wanted another date, you only had to ask."

"You two are _dating_?" Artemis exclaimed.

Her sister's reaction gave Jade a sudden idea. If the Team found out that Red Arrow was the mole, the truth would reveal itself, all without them having to ask for help. It was worth a shot. Now all she had to do was drop hints. _Heavy _hints.

But first, she saw the train coming and felt the irrepressible urge to fulfill her objective: deliver the package. She and Sportsmaster had previously arranged that they would indicate that the package was here by using the word... 'here.' Sportsmaster was creative like that.

"After all, Arrow, you're _here_," she said.

She next served as a distraction for Sportsmaster's getaway. She tackled Roy, and found herself sitting on his chest. Artemis was right next to them. Time to drop the first hint, and have some fun doing it.

She kissed him. To her surprise, he didn't resist, though he didn't exactly respond, either. And to her surprise, she was quite ready to make everything else second priority and stay this way forever. But that would be beyond foolish. With tremendous effort, she pulled away.

"But at least a kiss is still a kiss," she said. They would laugh about this later.

Then she was knocked over by another redhead, and the fight resumed. Roy had gone after Sportsmaster, but as she fought Kid Flash and Artemis, she saw an interesting dynamic between the speedster and her sister.

"Leave him alone!" Artemis yelled when Jade threw her ninja stars at the boy. And when Artemis fell, Kid Flash was instantly at her side, helping her up.

So Artemis had her own Red? In a different life, they could have gone on a double date. Maybe it wasn't too late to do so in this life?

* * *

They met again soon enough. Jade taunted her sister, showing her how the other archer had been spying on her. Maybe Artemis would want to spy on him, too, although it didn't seem that likely. Jade also made sure to remind Artemis how terrible their father was.

Artemis fired an explosive arrow as a warning, and in the blink of an eye, all four of them were engaged in battle. What an exciting family reunion. The fight heated up even more when Artemis' lover boy joined the fray.

Despite everything, Jade was amused at the situation: two daughters, their 'boyfriends,' and their _very_ angry father. The father must not like redheads.

Speaking of red, there was a flash of red light, and Artemis went after the source. Jade was left with Kid Flash pinning her to the ground. She didn't find it as exciting as she would have had if another redhead had been on top of her, but she decided to have some fun, anyway.

"Hey there, Flash Kid."

"That's Kid Flash."

"Whatever. Let me let you in on a little secret. Artemis' dad _hates _redheads."

Kid Flash's eyes widened. "What? How do you know Artemis' dad-"

Jade kicked the boy off of her and stood up just in time to see Roy slamming Sportsmaster to the ground. _Yes!_ She liked Roy even more after that. And just when things were getting good, she literally froze as she was teleported away.

* * *

"I have bad news and worse news," Roy said, stirring his bowl of oatmeal but not eating it. "I'll tell you the bad news first: Sportsmaster has a daughter."

Jade nearly dropped her spoon. She had debated for a while whether or not she would tell Roy about her family, but had always found an excuse not to.

"The 'other' me is most suspicious of Artemis, so he- erm, _I_ investigated and found out she was really Artemis Crock, Lawrence Crock's daughter. Now it makes sense why Sportsmaster told me over and over again, 'Make Artemis the number one suspect. Get her kicked off the team if you can.' He didn't want his daughter being a hero. However, the problem is that the 'other' me just confirmed to himself- _myself-_ that Sportsmaster's 'very inside source' _is_ Artemis, for obvious reasons. I think she's going to be the first person I end up ruining. Poor girl. She has a fighting attitude I kind of like- she reminds me of you."

"I'm sure she does..."

"And I'm already noticing my friendship with Kid Flash starting to fall apart. I think he likes Artemis, and he hates that I'm always trying to blame her."

He moodily stirred his oatmeal.

"And the worse news: I've been accepted into the Justice League. I'll be inducted- that is, I'll have _infiltrated_ the League by the end of this month. We have less than a month to do something. Anything. Anything at all."

* * *

Jade never asked Ra's al Ghul for any information beyond what he provided her. She never asked because she didn't need to- she had other sources. This time, she pulled out all her cards and pieced together as much of the plan as she could: the two main factors were Red Arrow and the thing called 'Starro-tech' that was in the briefcase. Upon being accepted into the league, Red Arrow would be taken to the Watchtower, where he would infect the Justice League members with the Starro-tech so they would be subject to mind control. _Damn that mind control,_ Jade thought bitterly.

However, Jade saw a flaw in the plan: part of the plan was to ambush the sidekicks' Team and infect them too. Jade thought that would be easier said than done. If the Team were to defeat their ambushers, and if Jade were to _accidentally_ leave the briefcase behind, the Team would discover the Starro-tech and know what to expect.

Jade also knew that al Ghul would program her with the objective of infecting the sidekicks. That meant that leaving the briefcase behind, accidentally or otherwise, would not be an option for her, unless she defeated his control over her.

Jade read and reread the same passage in an old and obscure textbook she had found: _The Psychology of Mind Control_. It explained how victims of mind control could regain their own will. It was quite simple.

She had a plan. It was simple, too. But it was also complicated. _Very _complicated.

When Roy had said they had less than a month to do 'anything at all,' _this _was probably not what he had had in mind. But it was the only plan they had.

Part of her was surprised that she was considering this, but another part of her wasn't surprised at all- she was certainly not a stranger to killing. So with less than three weeks left before Red Arrow was inducted into the Justice League, she had to do what had to be done.

She approached Roy and said, "I don't mean to make you jealous, but I trust the 'other' you, too."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Okay...?"

"I trust him with my life, you see."

"He- I- _he _thinks you're the enemy, remember?"

"Yes, he does. But he will still save my life if necessary, because he is a hero, and that's what heroes do."

"Jade? What are you going on about?"

Jade didn't answer. Instead, she kissed him. She kissed him hard, feverishly, desperately. She tangled her fingers into that red hair she loved so much. She kissed him as if it were the last time she might ever see him again. For all she knew, it could be.

"Jade," he gasped when she finally let him go. "Jade, what's wrong?"

"Roy," she whispered. She gingerly held his face in her hands and studied it, trying to etch every detail into her memory. "Roy, _em yeu anh_."

"Jade? What is going on?"

She responded by kissing him once more, softly and tenderly this time, and repeated, "_Em yeu anh._"

Then she pulled out her sai, twirled it expertly, and drove it straight into her own heart.


	5. Chapter 5

Continuity: Before and after _Usual Suspects_.

* * *

Jade had never believed in the afterlife. So when she became conscious again, she knew she was alive. She _had _to be alive, because a dead person couldn't possibly feel so much pain. She could also feel that both of her wrists were in handcuffs. Chained to the hospital bed, most likely. She could hear his breathing, too.

She snapped open her eyes. After they adjusted to the light, she saw Roy glaring at her. Even though he was the 'other' Roy right now, she could tell he was a little concerned about her. Concern for an enemy. Typical hero. Maybe heroes weren't so bad, after all.

She grinned at him. "Admiring the Sleeping Beauty?" she asked. "I would have woken sooner had you kissed me."

"I am not death," Roy said. "So why did you come to my doorstep to die?"

"I didn't come to your doorstep to die," she explained. "I came to your doorstep to _live_. And here I am. Alive."

"Just barely. You were in and out of multiple surgeries for almost 30 hours. My apartment looks like a scene from a horror movie. The surgeons are astonished you didn't die."

"I'm the Cheshire cat. I have nine lives."

Roy looked like he had a burning question, and it wasn't long before he asked impatiently, "What happened? Who stabbed you with your own sai? How did you end up in my living room? How did you make it to the middle of the room without leaving a trail of blood?"

"So many questions. Why don't we discuss this over dinner? You buy. I want steak and a spinach salad and any other iron-rich foods you can think of."

"Cheshire, you're handcuffed to the bed and won't be going anywhere for a while. You also don't _want_ to go anywhere for a while because you're still in critical condition. So just answer my questions."

"To survive in a kill-or-be-killed world, sometimes you have to kill _and_ be killed," Jade said cryptically.

"How very enlightening."

"Do you know, Red Arrow, the oath that the Shadows pledge when they first join?"

"Yes, of course," Roy said sarcastically. "I was one myself."

"'I will do my master's bidding, obey his every word, and serve him to the death.' Let's focus on the last part, shall we? I didn't swear to serve him 'forever' or 'to the end of time.' No, I swore to serve him 'to the death.' And I died."

"Wow. I see dead people."

"So long as the neurons don't deteriorate, a dead person can be revived. But I know I must have been dead for at least a few seconds, because it worked."

"What worked?"

"_Madame Butterfly_. That is my key phrase. I remember now."

"Actually, Cheshire, don't answer my questions. At least, not now. I forgot they drugged you up with painkillers. You're not sane."

"How fitting," Jade said thoughtfully. "Madame Butterfly killed herself, too."

It was very fitting, almost eerily so. Madame Butterfly was an Asian woman who had fallen in love with an American man. She had even borne him a child. Unfortunately, the man had abandoned her for another woman.

Roy got up. "We'll talk again when you can actually think clearly."

"No! Roy, don't go. Don't leave me."

Roy looked shocked and confused at her reaction. "They _really_ drugged you up, didn't they?"

Jade bit her lip. She so wanted to see _her_ Roy, but at the same time, she was afraid of how he would react to what she done. She was also afraid of how she might react to his reaction. There was too little time left to have emotions slow them down. She promised herself that she wouldn't see _her_ Roy again until after this entire ordeal was over.

"Yes," she finally said. "They drugged me up. So get lost, Arrow."

"I'll come back for you."

She wasn't sure if that was meant as a threat or as a reassurance. It also didn't help that it was what the American man had told Madame Butterfly.

Jade fell into an uneasy sleep and dreamed of broken weapons, smiling cats, and burning butterfly wings.

* * *

For the next week, Jade drifted in and out of consciousness. Sometimes she would be faced with doctors and nurses asking her medical questions, sometimes she would see the 'other' Roy coming to check up on her, and sometimes she would see _her_ Roy, then realize it had only been a dream.

The next time Red Arrow came to check on her sanity, he held up a blood-stained book. "_The Psychology of Mind Control._ Found it under my sofa while cleaning your blood off my floor. I skimmed through it and noticed that page 416 was particularly dog-eared."

Jade was very familiar with the contents of that page:

_One of the differences between DNA-programmed mind control and hypnotic mind control __is the way in which the mind control can be overcome. In the case of the programmed mind control, the victim can only have his will returned to him if he fully executes all parameters of the programming. Because the programmed control is like software programming, the commands must be followed to the letter. _

_With hypnotic mind control, however, the victim (should he be aware that he is being controlled) can interpret the commands to a certain extent. So long as the victim's mind believes that the command has been fulfilled, the hypnotic control will end and the victim will be free once more._

"I thought it was suspicious how the Shadows were unusually loyal to al Ghul. Now I know why. So that was why you tried to kill yourself."

"Killed. Not _tried_, actually killed. Like I said, it worked."

"Well, it was certainly brave- as in, synonymous with stupid. Why the sudden drastic change of heart, Cheshire?"

"I wouldn't say it was a change of heart; it's just that there was no more room in my heart for Ra's al Ghul."

"I see your heart got even smaller, then. Didn't think it was possible." It was supposed to be an insult, Jade knew, but there was no venom in his voice. Perhaps the 'other' Roy was warming up to her, too?

"No, it didn't get smaller, it's just that someone else pushed him out. Would you like to guess who that someone was?"

Roy scowled.

"Let me give you a hint. I usually don't kiss people on the job unless I _really_ like them."

Roy sighed frustratedly and said, "I don't know what I did to deserve this. I've only ever tried to help civilization, and then I'm given a villainous stalker."

"_Ex_-villain," Jade insisted.

Ex-villain was right. Although she had absolutely no plans to become a hero anytime soon or anytime _ever_, she was done with her life of crime. Of course, no one else needed to know this yet.

After Roy left, she swiftly undid her handcuffs and sneaked out of her room. She knocked out the first doctor she saw and took his lab coat. As she confidently walked out the hospital doors, the security guards bid her a good night. As far as the guards were concerned, she was just another doctor.

* * *

As stated in _The Psychology of Mind Control_, the only way to free Roy was to make sure that he executed all of his commands to the letter. The only way for Roy to _stay_ free was to make sure that his actions could be undone, preferably immediately. This meant countering Starro-tech, and she knew exactly the woman to do it.

"Why, Hello Doctor," Jade greeted from her perch on top of Dr. Serling Roquette's bookcase.

"You again!" the blonde woman screamed.

"Me again. Didn't I tell you, the last time we met, that the Shadows would have another use for you?" She jumped down from the bookcase and almost winced from the lancing pain in her heart muscle. She placed a small case on Serling's worktable and opened it, revealing the spiky red bio-chips: stolen samples of Starro-tech. "This is mind control at its finest. A combination of science and magic. Now, you just have to figure out how to counteract it."

"Magic? I'm a scientist, not a magician! How can I possibly counteract magic?"

"Clarke's Third Law says you can: 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.' You have two weeks to work your own magic, Doctor."

* * *

The next two weeks flew by so quickly that Jade would not have had the chance to see _her_ Roy even if she had intended to. Between putting up with Serling's temper, honoring some of the Doctor's wishes ("I need Dr. Amanda Spence's help. Can you recruit her? And don't hurt her!"), playing the role of dutiful Shadow, and trying not to overexert her recuperating heart, Jade had her hands full.

Jade also paid a visit to the Riddler. No one paid much attention to him, so there was little risk of him blowing her cover. And besides, she thought the Riddler had a soft spot for her.

"Riddler," she said. "You may have noticed that I don't like to give people straight answers, either. It's so much more fun to have them guess what you mean, isn't it?"

"It absolutely is, my dear," the Riddler enthusiastically agreed. "She pricks herself with spindles, she associates with the Beast, she is in the eye of the beholder. What is she?" he muttered to himself.

Jade wanted to roll her eyes, but refrained from doing so. "You see, Riddler, I like your riddles."

"You do? You do!"

"Yes, of course I do. I think they're _brilliant_. But the others don't seem to appreciate you the way I do," she said in her most sympathetic voice.

"No, they don't. But you do?"

"I certainly do," she confirmed. "So, I've been thinking. Maybe if you successfully ambushed the team of those bratty little sidekicks, don't you think the others would treat you with more respect? The respect that you deserve?"

"Yes, maybe they would. But how would I ambush the sidekicks?"

Jade planted her idea into the Riddler's head. She would gladly act as bait for the ambush, because the Riddler's plan was oh so impressive and she wanted to be a part of it. Now, if the Riddler would just tell _his_ brilliant idea to the Light, they would most certainly agree with it, would they not?

"They would! I am a mastermind. No reason why they wouldn't."

"Oh, and Riddler, _dear_, don't forget to mention that I would be the best bait because the Team has some unfinished business with me and would be tracking my activities."

"Yes, of course. I am so very insightful, I took all of that into consideration."

Well, Jade thought, at least the easy part was done.

* * *

The hard part was the magic.

"We can't undo the magic!" Dr. Roquette seemed both furious and terrified. "We've never seen anything like this before. We need the help of the Atlanteans. They know the most about this Starro creature, and they do sorcery themselves, as well."

Jade was exasperated. There were less than five days left until Roy's induction, and she didn't know how she would go about kidnapping Atlanteans from deep in the ocean.

"I was once in correspondence with Vulko, the head of the Atlantean Science Center," said Dr. Spence. "I was working on a doctoral thesis-"

"I am not interested in your bibliography, Doctor!" Jade snapped. "Just contact him, already!"

Five days. Just five more days.


	6. Chapter 6

Continuity: During _Usual Suspects._

* * *

The plan had been to transfer the briefcase to Red Arrow, who would take it to the Watchtower and infect the heroes. Jade's plan was to transfer it to Artemis, who would have to report the finding to Batman. She hoped Batman would take it to someplace where a non-scientist like Roy wouldn't have access to it; if not, there would be complications, but she could think of no better plan.

The ambush was set up exactly as she had specified. It wasn't long before the Team appeared to investigate the plane crash. "Where are the bodies?" Superboy asked.

That was her cue. "Here's one. And it is _stunning_."

As the Riddler told another of his ridiculous riddles, Cheshire almost laughed. He underestimated the 'kiddies'- the Riddler and his cohorts would be short work for the Team. Even as she thought this, the magician girl generated a snowstorm, dramatically reducing visibility. She had to work fast if she didn't want to be apprehended by her sister's little friends.

Jade jumped in front of her sister. "Just like old times," she said, dodging an arrow. "Dad pitting us against each other."

The snowstorm was making it very difficult to keep track of where Artemis was. And then she saw it: an avalanche, and right under that, her sister. "Artemis!" she cried, leaping through the air and pushing Artemis to safety.

Artemis was looking at her with wide, hopeful eyes. "Okay, fine," she admitted. "We're sisters. I don't actually want you dead."

The added stress of seeing her sister nearly murdered by snow did nothing for her vehemently protesting heart. She had to go, now. She surreptitiously dropped the briefcase next to Artemis and vanished into the maelstrom.

* * *

Retirement was in the very near future, Jade thought, clutching at her hammering heart. 36 hours, she told herself. She would retire in 36 hours, when the New Year began.

But the New Year would not begin if the scientists did not quickly find an antidote to the Starro-tech.

"How is progress on the cure-tech?" she asked. She had meant to say 'cure to the Starro-tech,' but her fatigue and recent dose of painkillers were interfering with her speech.

"Cure-tech? Oh, cure-tech! Good name for it," Dr. Spence said.

Dr. Roquette glared at her. "Yes, Amanda, what a great name it is," she said irritably. "The cure is almost done. The Atlanteans are working their magic on it right now."

Indeed, flashes of blue light were visible through the crack in the door leading to the adjacent laboratory. Vulko hadn't even asked who the cure-tech was for. He understood the dangers of Starro, and upon being asked to help counter Starro-tech's effects, he had immediately come to the surface to assist, bringing along Queen Mera, one of the most powerful sorceresses in the world.

But even Queen Mera couldn't stop time. And time was what they needed. 35 hours, now.

* * *

Sportsmaster had ordered her to bring Artemis to 'see the Light.' If she could have her way, Sportsmaster would be seeing stars, instead. Sportsmaster had said Artemis would be waiting for her at Gotham North High School. Jade landed the helicopter in the middle of the football field. Artemis ran over and jumped in, with a fake smile on her face.

"So I guess you heard? I got sick of my _ex-_teammates not trusting me. So I finally realized, this is where I stand. This is where I belong. I still don't think I forgive Dad for the way he raised us, but I agree with his cause now. It's good to be home."

Artemis always talked a lot when she was lying. She seemed to think an abundance of words made up for the lack of truth.

"I am so pleased that my baby sister is all grown up and joining the family business."

"Yeah. Family business. Great stuff."

They flew to Santa Prisca in awkward silence. Jade wanted to tell Artemis everything that she knew, but refrained from doing so. There would be many mind-readers in Santa Prisca, and not all of them would believe that Artemis had changed her ways so easily. It was best to keep Artemis in the dark about the real plan, in case someone decided to get psychically invasive.

However, she still wanted to let Artemis know that she was on her side. "Hey Artemis, remember when I left you behind all those years ago? When I said you would just hold me back?"

"Yeah," Artemis said sadly. "I remember."

"It wasn't entirely true. As you may have come to realize, there are things out there worse than a bad father. Much worse. I didn't want to subject a 9-year-old girl to the harsh realities of the world."

Artemis smiled softly. "That's what I figured. I always knew, Jade, that you were looking out for me. You think I didn't notice that you would sometimes follow me when I went out and around Gotham at night?"

"Gotham at night is one of the worst places for a little girl to be. I would know."

"And Jade? You were always more disobedient to Dad when I was around; sometimes unreasonably disobedient. Was it to make me look better by comparison?"

"Of course not. I was just jealous. Dad's hatred and wrath were all mine before you came along. I didn't want to share, is all."

"Jade... Look, about me joining the family business..."

"We're here," Jade interrupted. "Santa Prisca."

* * *

Jade was honestly a bit surprised to see two of her sister's sidekick friends at Santa Prisca, but assumed that it was part of their own plan- she had learned, from first-hand experience, that the kids were very good at what they did. Her assumption was proven to be correct when each of the sidekicks betrayed those who had led them there, and showed their true intentions. Good. A little backstabbing was always entertaining.

She participated in the fight just enough to avoid suspicion. She watched with great satisfaction as Artemis took on Sportsmaster. Her little sister really _had_ grown up. There was one very annoying moment when Kid Flash knocked her over rather violently, but she decided to cut him some slack after seeing him fight Sportsmaster, too.

Finally, the fight came to a close. Jade almost cackled with glee when Sportsmaster sank into the quicksand and called for her help. "Sorry, _Dad. _In this family, it's every girl for herself," she said, and vanished into the woods.

When Artemis viciously kicked off Sportsmaster's mask, Jade couldn't help but think that justice wasn't so bad, after all.

* * *

Or maybe justice _was_ bad- at least, the Justice League was bad, albeit temporarily.

"Queen Mera! Dr. Vulko! I was informed that you would be here," said Aqualad, running into Dr. Roquette's laboratory. "We have an emergency- we need to find an antidote to-"

"To this?" Vulko asked, holding up a pulsing red chip.

Aqualad gasped. "How did you know?"

"We had an... outside source notify us," Serling said hesitantly.

"What outside source, Doctor? Can this source be trusted?"

Serling glanced nervously at Cheshire's hiding place. "Well, we scientists, we like to keep tab on these things."

Aqualad still looked worried, but he immediately prioritized. "Very well, Doctor. How quickly can the antidote be finished?"

Queen Mera smiled. "It has been finished, Kaldur'ahm. But it is by no means perfect. For the cure-tech to counteract the effects of the Starro-tech, the victim will be rendered unconscious for a long while."

"That is not a problem, my Queen. So long as the Justice League is freed from the mind control-"

"The Justice League?" Queen Mera gasped. "_Orin! _Has Orin been infected?"

"I am sorry, my Queen. But I promise you that I will ensure that King Orin has his will returned to him."

"Please do, Kaldur'ahm. I trust you. And one more thing: the brilliant scientists here have managed to make the cure-tech both an antidote _and _a vaccine. There will be no more infections after this."

"That is excellent. With all due respect, my Queen, I must take the cure-tech and run."

"Go, Aqualad. Be safe."

* * *

It was an agonizing wait. For the past three weeks, she had been overwhelmed by the amount of work she had to do to carry out her plan. She had felt like she had needed all the time in the world. Now, there was just too much of it.

Unable to sit still any longer, she began walking around Roy's empty apartment. She noticed the little details that made him _him:_

The books on the shelves were arranged so that the shortest ones were in the middle and the tallest were on the ends, giving the impression of a bow, or possibly the Star City Suspension Bridge. The middle shelf displayed a collection of immaculately polished Native American arrowheads. Other than the arrowheads, there were no personal effects- no pictures, no mementos, no objects of any kind to suggest that an 18-year-old teenage boy lived here.

In fact, if she had had to guess the occupant of the apartment, an 18-year-old teenage boy would have been her _last_ choice. The bottles of herbs and spices in the spice cabinet were alphabetized, the food in the refrigerator all sported labels with expiration dates written in neat, precise handwriting, and the dishes stacked in the cupboards were clean to the point of being sterile. There was no dirty laundry in his room, and his clothes were folded like new.

Jade sadly thought that the extreme orderliness of his home was Roy's attempt at trying to bring some peace to his disordered mind.

And she wondered exactly _who_ would walk through the front door when everything was over. Would it be _her_ Roy? The slightly OCD boy with a short temper but a kind heart? Or would the Team's mission fail, leaving her with a Starro-tech-infected Roy? Or would everything revert back to the beginning and the _original_ Roy Harper's personality would manifest itself?

Would he even remember her at all? Would he remember _Jade_ and not Cheshire?

She didn't know. She was deathly curious, but also deathly afraid. The anticipation was excruciating.


	7. Chapter 7

Continuity: After _Auld Acquaintance._

* * *

It was almost dawn when Jade saw the three figures walking towards the building. Green Arrow, Black Canary, and _him_. From the dismally broken look on Roy's face and from the way the other two were trying to console him, she figured that none of them were infected with Starro-tech. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Having reached the building, Roy appeared to be attempting to make Green Arrow and Black Canary go away. Would he send her away, too? Eventually, the other two heroes conceded and Roy entered the building alone. Jade saw Black Canary bury her face in Green Arrow's chest. Both looked miserable. Just exactly how bad was the situation?

The door opened slowly, and Jade held her breath. She hid in the darkness, unsure of what to do. She hadn't seen _her_ Roy in three weeks, since she had stabbed herself in the heart. She still didn't want to face him over that fact. How would he react?

Roy came in and shut the door. He leaned against it for a moment before sinking to the floor. He threw aside his weapons and ripped his mask off his face, which he buried in his hands. He looked wretched.

"_Jade_," he murmured to himself. "Jade, where are you?"

He remembered her. She nearly collapsed from the relief, but managed to rush to his side, wrapping her arms around the surprised archer. "I'm here, Roy, I'm here."

Roy returned her embrace. "Jade! I didn't think you'd be here. You scared the hell out of me. Nearly stopped my heart-" He suddenly and violently pushed her away. "Nearly stopped _your_ heart!"

"Roy, I can explain," she began, but Roy wasn't hearing any of it. Fury distorted his features.

"What were you thinking, you _idiot_? After all that you told me about how I should never use sleeping pills because you were afraid I'd die- and then you just go ahead and stab yourself! Filthy hypocrite. If you hadn't survived... Jade, if you hadn't survived..." Unable to speak anymore, he gathered her back into his arms and held her there.

Some time later, he had calmed down enough to speak again. He told her how his mind had come back:

"It happened gradually and not in sequence. My memory came back in fragments and it was extremely confusing, like watching clips from a movie that were all out of order. The first thing I remembered was being programmed to be a mole, and then becoming obsessed with 'finding' the mole on the team. Then I remembered making pancakes for Cheshire, and thought I was going insane, until I remembered that it's been quite a while since I stopped thinking of you as Cheshire, and just as Jade.

It was really difficult trying to distinguish between the 'other' me and 'this' me. I still haven't sorted it all out yet. And then I remembered... you stabbing yourself. I remember the horror I felt, and then when you lost your consciousness, the 'other' me came back, but I think the shock was so great that for a while, parts of 'this' me lingered, and the 'other' me thought it was strange why he felt so much concern for you- after all, to him, you were just Cheshire, the enemy. And by the way, if you ever, _ever_ try to kill yourself again, I'll... I'll..."

"I won't, Roy. I won't."

"Promise?"

"I don't make promises. But I still won't. I'm a free agent now, truly 'my own girl.' So I have no reason to attempt that again."

"Good. Don't even _think_ about attempting that again."

"Let's stop talking about me and talk a bit more about you. Are you really going to be okay?"

"I don't know, Jade. I really don't. Since fulfilling my objective, I feel incredibly lost. The only purpose I've ever known was to execute my programming, and now that it's done, it feels as though there's this great gaping hole in my mind.

I knew I was a clone before, but it wasn't so bad then because underneath everything, that programming was continuously giving me a motive to be League-worthy, so I still felt worthy even after realizing what I was. But with it gone, I feel like a complete nobody. I'm a copy. A cheap knock-off. Everything I've lived for, everything I believed about myself, were all lies.

Nothing is real to me anymore. Green Arrow never took _me_ as his protege; he chose Roy Harper, and I'm not Roy Harper. My friends were only friends with me because they thought I was him. My dream to join the Justice League was just that- a dream, caused by mind control. Nothing is real.

There is one exception, though. It's you." He looked at her intensely, his eyes burning blue. "You knew what I was from the very beginning. But you don't care, do you?"

Jade shook her head. "No. I don't care who you are or what you are so long as you're _you_. That's all that matters to me. _Em yeu anh__, _Roy... I love you."

Roy cried. He was desperately trying to pretend like it wasn't happening, and was looking at everything but her, but Jade saw the silent tears and she cried, too. Jade had always considered crying a weakness; she had believed that strong people never cried. But now she understood what crying really was: it was a part of the healing process, to become stronger. To become unbroken, you had to break down first.

So she held the broken boy as tightly as she could, as if she could prevent him from falling to pieces. It was obvious that they had a long and difficult journey ahead of them.

Roy needed to come to terms with what he was and who he was. He had to find the original Roy Harper, either dead or alive, so he could begin his own life. He needed to understand that the real purpose of life was to _live_, not just to establish an objective and meet it.

She needed to accept that she would no longer be fighting the way she used to, not with her badly damaged heart. She had to abandon her mercenary mindset, the only mindset she had ever known. She also needed to let go of the illusion that if her own father wouldn't love her, no one else would either. Roy had made her realize that she could be loved, too. After seeing how he had come to care for her, even though he was a hero and she was a villain, she realized that Artemis and their mother loved her not because of family obligation, but because they just did. Because she was Jade.

She had once joked that she imagined that hope had red hair and blue eyes. Well, _her _hope did.

A broken arrow. A broken smile. Two wrongs didn't make a right. But maybe, she hoped, just maybe two broken people could unbreak each other.

* * *

The End.


End file.
